Instant Karma - Just Add Water...

Recently my company changed our vacation policy to include both vacation time and sick time.  Vacation time can be carried over at the end of the year, but sick time cannot. Since I had several sick days still in the bank, I decided to play hookie from work and have a long weekend of constructive boredom to prepare for the holidays. I used my reoccurring lower back pain as an excuse for not coming into the office that Friday. I was quite busy the entire weekend and enjoyed my time off so much that I decided to use another day on Monday to round it all out.

Karma started catching up with me that very day. There was an issue that arose at work requiring me to work for about five hours that afternoon - so I really had very little time off. She completed the job this past weekend.

After having a lovely Friday evening shopping with my niece (happy 15th birthday!), I woke up early Saturday morning, got the house cleaned and the laundry done, ran some errands and made plans to meet friends out for a holiday drink. Around 5 PM a nagging pain started in my lower back, so I retired to the sofa.  By 9:00 PM there were shooting pains from my back through my glutes and into my upper thighs. Needless to say, I had to cancel my plans with Alex and Joe, take a few pills, and stretch out in bed (apologies are due to Alex, who has been quite vigilant in trying to set up a time to celebrate the holidays).

I hoped the pain would soon pass, but unfortunately I was incapacitated all day on Sunday. I did get to do a bit of reading, napping (thank you pain medication), and catching up on some movies (Green Zone and Toy Story). However on Monday, the pain was still around. Due to overwhelming feelings of guilt and continuing fear of karmic retribution, I trudged into work with my heating pad and bottle of Aleve.

Today, things are returning to normal. To make the day even brighter, my friend John is flying into Raleigh for a night on the town before he heads home to spend time with his family. I am guessing that I may not be fresh as a daisy in the morning, but tonight, I will allow the Christmas spirits to do their work. There is a new tequila bar that recently opened in my building - could be trouble...

Happy Hanukkah to my Jewish friends. It is truly a season of miracles.
Happy Winter Solstice to my Naturist / Humanist friends. It is the longest night of the year - don't let it go uncelebrated.
Happy Saturnalia to the rest of you - you know who you are....